Naagin 3 actor Pearl V Puri was arrested by the Mumbai police for alleged rape and molestation of a minor. ANI reported that a case was registered against the actor under IPC section 376 (rape) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act, 2012.
After his arrest, several celebrities posted in the actor's support. Puri’s Naagin 3 co-star Anita Hassanandani, in an Instagram post, had called the news ‘nonsensical’. Later, director Ekta Kapoor also took to social media to express her support for Puri.
“Will I support a child molester…or a molester of any kind? But what I witnessed from last night to now, was the absolute low in human depravity. How can humanity go to this level? How can people who are upset with each other, drag a third person into their own fight? How can a human being take on another human being and do this?” she wrote in the caption.
Ekta claims to have spoken to the child’s mother who allegedly said that Pearl was innocent and is being implicated by the child’s father. “After various calls with the child‘s/girl’s mother, who openly said that Pearl was not involved and it’s her husband trying to create stories to keep her child and prove that a working mother on a set cannot take care of her kid. If this is true then it is wrong on so many levels!” she wrote.
The caption further touched upon the #MeToo movement, and read, “Using an extremely important movement like ‘Me Too’ frivolously, to get your own agendas met with and mentally torturing a child and making an innocent person guilty. I have no right to decide, the courts will decide who is right & wrong.”
“My opinion only comes from what the girl’s mother said to me last night & that is - Pearl is innocent …and it is very very sad if people are using various tactics to prove working mothers are unable to take care of their children, because there are predators on the set. I have all the voice notes and messages between the child’s mother and me which clearly points to the false allegations being put on Pearl,” she added.
The film industry is as safe or as unsafe as any other business. To give it a bad name to get your agenda sorted is the lowest form of low ever. If by chance, Pearl is proved innocent, I request people to look more deeply into how the important & much needed movements in today’s time, are being used unfairly reducing the gravitas of the situation. May justice prevail!Ekta Kapoor, Instagram
Other celebrities including Ishi Dutta, Krystle D'Souza, and Suyyash Rai had also backed up Puri on social media.
Actor Suyyash Rai posted a picture with Puri with the caption that reads, “This boy @pearlvpuri , Ive known him for years now !!! He is everything but this what he is being blamed for !!! Its a request to you guys before jumping to any conclusions you all should wait ! Pearly stay strong. we love you.”
Krystle D’Souza had urged people to not jump to ‘conclusions on baseless allegations’, and wrote, “I know @pearlvpuri and he is one of the nicest boys I’ve met in our tv industry. A thorough gentleman. Please don’t jump to conclusions on baseless allegations. Let’s wait for the truth to come out.”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)